The Lost Ones
by Dawn Totadile
Summary: My first try at a MLP story. Don't blast me for it! I made two of my own alicorns one day for some reason. I'm using all my own pony knowledge (Which isn't much) so I hope you like. I had been wondering who Spike's mom was. Anyway, here it is. Rated just to be safe :P ... :P More characters than listed and its actually happier than I thought :P
1. Chapter 1: Prolouge Twins

**_"Long ago when Nightmares were plenty and Ponies were shy, there were four princesses. One was Princess Celestia, the sun princess, and another was her younger sister, Princess Luna, the moon princess. Very few know that these two had two more sisters who shared their place as princesses of Equestria. Even fewer know that the two were both born from a set of twins. Celestia's twin was named Astra, and her powers, unlike Celestia's, were forced upon her. No one was sure of what her real powers were, but she was definitely a powerful sorceress. Luna's twin happened to be an almost complete opposite of herself. Her name has been lost in time, as well as herself. The princesses and dragons are probably the only ones who could recognize the youngest princess. During the Nightmare war, Astra was captured and possessed by the most powerful sorceresses and sorcerers of the Nightmare army. She was sent up against her own sisters and the Ponies she had sworn to protect. The youngest princess cantered towards the fight that she had been forced away from and looked at her big sister. She was still a young filly but something about her had always been older. She unfurled her wings for the first time and flew up high above her oldest sisters' fight. Luna was trying to keep the other ponies away from the fight so they wouldn't be harmed, while Celestia tried to help Astra regain control of herself. The youngest flew just above Astra's head and started chanting a spell that none could recognize. She then tossed her tiara to Celestia, as a bright light enveloped both her and Astra. The two disappeared in a blinding flash leaving the rest of the Ponies in a state of shock as the Nightmares fled from their lands forever. No one knows what had happened to the princesses to this day, but hope always shines for those who dream…"_**

An old unicorn closed the book slowly. She wasn't as old as she looked, but she knew how to change her looks with some mud, herbs, and a little makeup here and there. No one would recognize her for what she had once been. No one would expect to ask and discover her past. She had a bandage covering the remains of her cutie mark, making sure no one would recognize her while she went to visit a young unicorn, and her friend, a dragon by the name of Spike Hope…


	2. Chapter 2: An Old Hope

As she entered the cheery town of Ponyville, she breathed a sigh of relief. The old place was still standing as it had been so long ago. There were new places, and new faces, but as she walked on it seemed to be a cheery place. She looked to her tired companion who was traveling with her. Her companion didn't know her real name, but she knew enough. The name she was using was Hope, Hope Healer. She was a dusty pink unicorn with bandages almost covering her whole body. Even her cutie mark had a large bandage on it. Her dark pink horn tingled with energy as they walked past a police-mare.

Her companion shuddered and looked to her as she gave her a reassuring nod. Her name was Astra Compassion, and she looked like a Nightmare. Not like a bad dream, but like the horses that came from them. She looked similar to what had been known as Nightmare Moon only a few years ago. She hid her looks under a large cloak, much like Hope did. Her fur was a dark purple, her hair a dark blue, and unlike most, her horn was two colors. Every other stripe of her horn was black. Her eyes were black with red slits which had given her nightmares at first. The only ones comfortable with seeing her were her family, her sisters, she only hoped that they would still love her after all that had happened. Her cutie mark was a black and pink compass with the north point on top like any normal compass and had a red heart at the center.

"Relax, Astra, no one will even recognize what you look like. Once I bring you back to your sisters, this nightmare will be over." Hope reassured the alicorn as they neared the town's edge. They had passed through quickly without any bother, save for a young pink pony that had seen them and gasped at them. It had taken Astra a while to calm back down after that.

"You say that, but you don't know for sure. The two of my sisters could be just fine without me. I just wish we knew where the third was…" Her voice was as fluid as a river and had a feel of a starry night about it. "I'm sure no one remembers me, Hope. You told me it's been about Fourteen hundred years. That's a long time for any pony's memory, even an Alicorn. Face it, everyone but the dark ones has forgotten I even exist." She sighed. Hope glanced towards her and knocked the back of her head with her hoof. "OW! What was that for?"

"For being a pessimist when I'm trying to help you. I didn't use fourteen centuries of my existence to help you just so you could psyche yourself out of talking to the two remaining sisters you have." Hope knew it was a low blow, but she also knew it was necessary for her to get Astra back to Celestia and Luna for her own safety.

Astra looked down to the ground. "Sorry, Hope. I guess I'm just worried."

"It's understandable. I myself haven't been around my family in just as long. You were unconscious for seven centuries, so you're lucky to have survived whatever had turned you into **_her_**." Astra looked at her companion in surprise. "I know this is how you usually looked, not that stuck up prissy pony who used magic and wings for everything. I was right there in the court with you and your sisters. I was wounded in battle and saw everything. None of it was your fault, Astra." Astra sighed.

As the two neared the edge of Ponyville, they ran into the pink pony from earlier. Her name was Pinky Pie. She was a pink, curly haired, energetic, party pony with a set of balloons for her cutie mark. "Hi, I'm Pinky Pie, are you leaving so soon? We love having visitors, and it's also going to be dark soon, so you should really stay here in town, I'm sure we can find someplace for you to stay and if you stay long enough, I can throw you a surprise party, though now it won't be a surprise, but I'm sure it can still be a party and come on it'll be fun, don't you think?"

Astra was so confused by the fast talking energetic pony that she was surprised when Hope just laughed. "Well, it is getting late, but we don't want to impose. We're on our way to Canterlot to visit the princesses. I'm sure we can keep going if we need to and sleep in under the stars in a field somewhere." Her voice was as gentle as a cloud and yet as fluent as a stream.

Pinky was insistent though. "Oh, come on, I'm sure some pony will let you stay the night, it gets pretty dark, though not as dark as it used to since Princess Luna came back. She makes it just a little lighter than what Princess Celestia would do, but of course you know all about that. Oh, there's Twilight Sparkle, maybe she can share a room, she and Spike live in the Library all alone."

They looked towards a young Alicorn who was grimacing. She was wearing the latest design from her friend, Rarity, a new starry dress for her. Rarity was the fashion designer of Ponyville. Twilight Sparkle was the only Alicorn that lived in Ponyville. She had once been just a powerful unicorn that was apprenticed to Princess Celestia. Hope made sure her hood was over her head. She knew this young pony from back when she had been a filly.

"Hey, Pinky, what's up? Who are your new friends?" Twilight smiled kindly. She was a very studious pony who was also well organized.

Astra was a little hesitant. Hope herself was as well, but took a deep breath and took off her hood. "I'm Hope Healer, and this is Astrana Compassion. I do hope you'll forgive our appearances, but things do happen when traveling." She smiled as Twilight's expression became surprised. "It's nice to see you again, Twilight Sparkle. I hope you and Spike have been staying out of trouble." She winked.

Twilight blushed a little in embarrassment. "Oh, well um, yes but um…"

Hope just chuckled. She was a kind hearted soul full of hope and dreams, which was why her bandage cutie mark had a white star in the center to symbolize hope. "I figured as much, but at least the town hasn't been destroyed."

Pinky Pie then started in, "Well not recently, but things do tend to happen not that its Twilight's fault or Spike's for that matter oh and I know we can throw a party in the morning just before you go and then maybe before you get to Canterlot we can have Spike send a message to the princesses and tell them you're on your way and oh then you can spend more time here because maybe the princesses would like to come here and then you won't have to travel so far, huh?" Pinky was jumping about ecstatically, filled with excitement and wonder all at once.

Twilight looked to the old dusty pink Unicorn. "You're going to see the princesses?"

"Yes, you see my companion is an old… friend I guess you could say, who's been under my care for some time and I thought that it would be best to let the princesses know that she's in complete control of herself once more, aren't you, Astrana?"

Astrana nodded slowly. "I still scare ponies though, I bet…" She muttered.

Hope rolled her eyes. "Unfortunately, I don't have enough power on my own to get rid of a curse that was placed on her as a young filly. She looks like a nightmare according to most ponies, but since no one has seen a pure nightmare in centuries, I happen to know for a fact that it's an over exaggeration."

"All the same, I'm keeping my hood up. I don't want to scare these young ponies. I'm not exactly as pretty as Celestia, as you know."

Twilight took pity on the poor mysterious pony. "Well don't worry. We won't judge you… well I won't…" She looked to Pinky as she remembered the day when their Zebra friend, Zecora, came into town. "Anyway, do you both need a place to stay? It's getting pretty late and Spike would love to see you again, Ms. Healer. I'm sure we could move some stuff out of the way and there'd be plenty of room for you both in the library with me and Spike." She smiled. Hope Healer had helped her a few times as a young filly and had been the one to take care of Spike for her after he hatched before disappearing. Spike had always thought of her as his mother.

Hope looked to Astra who nodded once with her dark head. If Hope trusted this girl, then so could she. Hope then replied, "We'd be quite grateful for that, Twilight. Thank you. We'll leave tomorrow, unless Astra wouldn't mind staying for a Pinky Pie Party?" She chuckled.

Pinky Pie looked at the hooded pony with pleading eyes. Astra couldn't help but give in. "Alright, just … don't freak out if my hood comes off, I'm not exactly pretty anymore. I look rather scary in fact."

Hope smirked. "I always thought you pulled off the look rather elegantly, Astrana." Astra rolled her eyes. Astrana was her full first name, but she was sure that everyone else had forgotten she even existed, save for this one unicorn. "Twilight, how about you go and tell Spike that you have guests coming, don't tell him who it is, I want to surprise him, please, and we'll come along after you."

"Alright, Miss Healer." She smiled.

"Oh, and one more thing, Twilight." Twilight stopped to look at the tired old pony. "Just call me Hope. I never really liked being Miss anything." Hope smiled as Twilight grinned and flew off towards the library. She was getting faster with her wings, but not as fast as Rainbow Dash, her speedy Pegasus friend. "Well, Astrana?"

Astrana sighed as she managed to smile a bit. This town was so nice and peaceful compared to what she last remembered of her world. That was over a thousand years ago though. This world was happier. "I'm coming, Hope. I just hope I don't scare this young Spike or anyone else who happens to be a friend of yours."

"If you do, I'll scare them worse, sound fair enough?" She chuckled as they walked off towards the library with the sun setting behind them. Pinky Pie smiled as she cantered off to go to bed and then in the morning set up a party. She loved parties.


	3. Chapter 3:My Baby Dragon

Spike usually grumbled about cleaning up the library just so that Twilight could invite some pony over for a slumber party. This time he was surprised that Twilight was helping him to do it. Someone important was coming over, someone she respected, but no one from Canterlot would sleep in the library, so who was it? He was a bit busy worrying about trying to get a snack from a box of gems that he had usually kept as a stash, since he was the only one in Ponyville to eat gems. Spike was a baby dragon, only twenty five years old. He'd grow more when he turned seven hundred, not that his friends needed to know. He hadn't even told them how old he was, or what kind of dragon he was. The only ones who knew were his pony mother, Twilight, and his dragon mom which he didn't like as much as his pony mother.

"Almost got it, come on, just a little higher…" He was standing on his toes, on top of a set of boxes, trying to reach the box of gems. Twilight had moved them when she had found them, thinking that it wasn't healthy for him to eat a lot of gems in one go. "Almost… almost… whoa!" He slipped with the box tumbling down with him. "Whaa!"

Suddenly, he found himself being held up in the air by a ring of magic. It wasn't Twilight's magic, but it felt familiar to the young dragon. "Didn't I tell you no gems before bedtime, Spike?" Spike's eyes widened as he looked at the dusty pink unicorn who had saved him. She gently set him down and his box in his hands. "But, since you're no longer three, I guess I can make an exception for tonight." Hope smiled at the shocked purple dragon with green spikes.

"Hope…" Spike dropped the box in his hands and ran towards the unicorn. Astrana looked in surprised as the dragon hugged Hope. "Mom…" Spike hugged the unicorn tightly while Hope nuzzled him. "You're here!"

Twilight smiled as she saw this. They had met Spike's biological mother a few years ago, and it hadn't gone so well. He didn't get along with his mother at all. He had been raised by the unicorn known as Hope Healer from the day he had hatched to the day she had introduced him to Twilight as her new assistant. They hadn't seen each other since. She had saved his egg from a Manticore who had taken it from a cave for some strange reason. Hope had tried to find the egg's mother but never found a single dragon. When the egg was hatched in Twilight's test, Hope named him and raised him as her own till he was ready to become her assistant when he turned ten. He became intelligent, responsible, kind, and caring under her care. He learned how to help her around her little clearing and help to take care of her main patient, Astrana. He had left before Astrana awoke and Twilight had never seen Astrana.

Twilight led Astrana to one of the spare rooms. She had set up a bed in both of the spare rooms for the two ponies. "Here you are. If you need anything, just ask. I'll be at the top of the library. It's a beautiful night for stargazing."

"Thank you. Why are you helping us? Aren't ponies normally wary of new creatures around their homes." Astra was still confused as to why they were being allowed to stay in such a peaceful place, especially when she worried constantly about her past.

"My mentor always says that I have to be open and welcoming to others, no matter what they look like and where they're from. Besides, Hope Healer is an old friend and Spike's mother. I won't deny her a safe place to spend the night, and she trusts you so that means I should too."

Astra looked at the young Alicorn with her red eyes seeming to glow softly from under her hood. "Who exactly is your mentor?"

"Princess Celestia of Canterlot. She's been training me since I was a little filly. I now train here with my friends working on discovering the magic of friendship and all its secrets." She smiled shyly. She was starting to feel like she could trust this mysterious pony, even though Astra was scared of her.

Astra looked her square in the eyes and after a minute sighed. "Well that is a noble goal. Tell me, Twilight, what do you know about the Nightmare War?" The question seemed sudden, but Astra had a feeling that she would be able to answer.

"That was a war where the Nightmares started to fight against the ponies. There had been some sort of disagreement amongst the princesses of Equestria and the Nightmare realm. All records of it are kept in Canterlot but there are legends of how it ended and such. Sorry, but there's not really much to tell on that. I don't even know how the war was started. I wasn't allowed to read those books." Twilight answered as best as she could. By being asked the question so suddenly, she automatically told the truth about what she knew. This had been Astra's goal.

Astra looked at the young alicorn; full of curiosity, and yet, full of patience and knowledge. "Well it seems that Celestia chose a good apprentice. I wonder if I might bore you with a bit of history? We can go upstairs and look at the stars while we're at it if you want."

Twilight smiled. It seemed that Astra was starting to like her. "That sounds like fun. I love learning things."

Hope smiled as the two walked past her and Spike up towards the roof of the library to look at the stars. "Soon everything will be alright once more." Spike had fallen asleep in his bed with his box of gems forgotten. Hope took out one and placed it under his pillow for in the morning. She then used her magic to put the box on a shelf and went to sleep next to the little dragon's bed, just like she had when he was just a hatchling, after all, he was her baby dragon.


	4. Chapter 4: A History Lesson

Twilight set up some chairs next to her telescope as she and Astra came up to the top. Magic had always been her special skill. The two ponies looked up at the night sky, one in fear, one in wonder.

"It's always so beautiful seeing the stars this bright." Twilight smiled.

"This isn't bright, Twilight. I remember that the stars were brighter before the end of the wars. I was there." Twilight looked at her confused. Not very many ponies can live that long, Unicorns were more likely to have lived that long or Alicorns, though legend said that if you had at least five unicorns in an area, the ponies in the area would have extended lives, and alicorn magic counted for double that. "This is dim, as though whoever is in charge of them never truly understood how to keep them alight."

Twilight looked to the mysterious pony with curiosity. She still wore her hood, but her hooves were starting to show as she gazed up. "Well I imagine Princess Luna is busy keeping the moon going. I've always known the stars to be like this. Who else would know how to brighten them up at night?"

"I would…" Astrana whispered. Astra put a hoof near the clasp of her cloak and wondered if she should take it off. She then looked to the pony next to her. She didn't want to scare her. "Twilight, do you know what a nightmare is?"

"A bad dream… or did you mean the dark horses with dragon like wings that had holes in them and used nightmare magic?"

"The second one… when I was a young filly, I was playing with my twin sister. I heard something in the bushes and got in the way of a black blast that would have hit my sister. I was turned into a nightmare filly. At the time, no one cared about how I looked as long as I continued to act good as I had always done. I tended to scare off anyone but my sisters though with my looks. My little sisters were born after my transformation, so to them, my looks seem normal… that's why I wear this though… I don't want to scare anypony again." Twilight blinked as she finally understood this pony's fear.

"I won't be scared. I've gone up against Nightmare Moon, and she turned out to be nice as long as her jealousy was down." Twilight smiled.

"Nightmare Moon?"

"You mean, you didn't hear? A few years ago when I had first come to Ponyville, back when I was still just a plain old unicorn, Princess Luna came back from being stuck on the moon for a thousand years. She was known as the mare on the moon, or Nightmare Moon. Supposedly she was being controlled by her jealousy, but somehow, I don't know… anyway, my friends and I confronted her when we were trying to find out what had happened to Princess Celestia. We gathered the elements of harmony and managed to defeat her. She transformed back into Princess Luna and Celestia took her home. Since then, they've been working together peacefully to keep both the sun and moon moving for our world." Twilight had explained calmly. She wasn't completely surprised that Astra didn't know about the "Nightmare Moon" incident since they were from out of town.

"But she's alright now, right?"

"Oh, yes, Princess Luna hasn't returned to that form since. We all appreciate the night more too, what with its stars, the moon, the planets, and all sorts of wonderful things." Twilight backed away from her telescope. "Want a look?"

"I'm fine… Mind if I take off my hood? I don't want to scare you, but I want to look at stars without this cloth over my eyes, and I haven't spread my wings in centuries…" Astra surprised herself with this request. She looked and noticed the shadow of Hope walking down the stairs back towards Spike. One of Hope's special abilities was to make ponies friendlier and calmer around others.

Twilight smiled happily. "No problem, like I said, we won't judge you here, besides, I'm sure Discord looks worse than anypony possibly could."

Astra took a deep breath and pictured something that gave her hope, like Hope Healer had always told her to do when she was worrying about something. She pictured her two little sisters looking up at her and smiling happily, even though she looked terrifying. She used her magic to take off her cloak and placed it on a chair. Twilight's eyes widened as she saw the pony, not because of fear or disgust but because of wonder.

Astra was a dark purple alicorn with dark blue hair and a black and purple horn. She had purple and blue dragon like wings rather than the angelic like wings that were common to pegasus, without a single hole in them. Just above her horn, a small hair band like tiara that seemed to be made of gold and held an onyx gem in it. She looked quite similar to Celestia and Luna save for her eyes, which were black with a red slit, similar to an angry dragon's eye. She looked up at the night sky with a bit of longing. She seemed to melt into the dark sky as the stars seemed to fill her dark blue hair. She smiled weakly towards the moon, as though wishing she was there. She then looked sadly towards Twilight with an apologetic look in her eyes.

"I know… I'm probably the most terrifying creature you've ever seen, aren't I?"

"No, Nightmare Moon scared me more than you do. You look like you belong in the night sky though, right there with the stars…"

"I sorta do. My name is Astrana Compassion, but my sisters would often call me Astra Night, or Starry Night. My powers had to deal with making the stars shine brighter and being a guiding light to anypony in need… that is until… until the Nightmare War came upon us…"

"If… if you don't mind explaining, could you tell me what happened?"

Astra looked towards the young pony and noticed no fear in her eyes, but curiosity and a thirst for intelligence instead. She smiled weakly towards the alicorn. "Alright, but please, tell me if it gets too scary." Twilight nodded. Astra began her story, keeping names out of it. She explained that she had a twin sister as well as two younger sisters who were also twins. She then explained how she became captured and turned into what seemed like a normal pony but was really an evil puppet to the Nightmares. She ended the tale by explaining how her youngest sister flew just above her and flashed a golden light in front of her. The next thing she knew, Astra was being taken care of by Hope Healer in a valley over a thousand years after the war was over, and her littlest sister was nowhere to be found. "… and I have no clue what happened to her…"

"Wow… all those years… what about your other sisters?"

"That's actually why we're going to talk to the princesses. I guess you could say we were friends all those centuries ago and I'd like their help." She wasn't quite ready to tell her just who her sisters were.

It was at this time that Hope came up from the library. "And we won't be able to get to Canterlot if you're exhausted, you silly ponies. Princess Luna is going to lower the moon soon and here you are still up. Astrana you can stay up all night some other night, and the same goes to you, Twilight. Now go to sleep, you two." She smiled like an old mother horse to her young. She knew she was younger than Astrana, but she felt like she had to pretend for her sake that she was older.


	5. Chapter 5: Canterlot's Princesses

After surviving a Pinkie Pie Party, Hope and Astrana said their farewells to the town of Ponyville. Hope wasn't surprised that Twilight and Spike had insisted on joining them, but was surprised that they had brought some other friends with them. Applejack Apple was an honest, strong, hardworking, farmer pony. Rarity was a fashion designer with the magic touch of her unicorn horn to help her with her dreams. Fluttershy was an extremely shy pegasus that worked with animals. Rainbow Dash was an extremely fast flyer of the athletic type, having the dream to be one of the pegasus on her favorite flying team, the Wonder Bolts. Even Pinkie Pie had decided to come, thinking that they couldn't let Twilight and Spike have all the fun. Astra was still a bit nervous about being near so many ponies, but was surprised that none of them were afraid of her for her looks. She felt reassured that ponies were not as judgmental as they had been about her in the past.

As they reached the capital though, she put her cloak on again while Hope lowered her own hood. She gave a wistful smile that only Spike understood, as he was the only one who knew her secret. They walked through slowly and carefully, while a few of the fancy ponies looked at them, some with disdain and some with curiosity. As they reached the palace, Hope and Astra recognized some older unicorns and ponies in the guard who didn't even wait for an explanation, they just opened the gates for the group. Twilight looked at them in surprise.

"Like I said, I know the princesses…" Astra said shyly. She had taken off her hood as they had gotten closer to the palace and had kept her eyes hidden under her mane. She kept quiet up until they were all led into the throne room. Many ponies looked at her with shock, but a few of the older ones looked upon her with relief and smiles.

As princess Celestia looked upon them from her throne, she felt her heart stop. Twilight noticed Spike still clutching onto Hope and smirked.

Celestia then summoned her little sister, Luna. Luna was rarely ever summoned during the day save for something important so she was surprised as she came through the throne room and the hooded unicorn bowed to her with respect. She was even more shocked by Spike clutching onto anypony other than Twilight. Hope turned her head as the second princess entered and sighed in what seemed to be relief. Luna had grown up strong and beautiful, much like her older sisters.

Hope's eyes seemed to gleam with a small light as Luna entered. She whispered something to Spike who smiled and nodded eagerly. Luna felt scared for some reason, as though she was ashamed of herself once more for having been Nightmare Moon. Luna's fear suddenly strengthened as she saw what looked like a Nightmare standing in front of the court. As she passed the pony on her way towards her sister, the dragon-like eye staring at her with fear shocked her. She then noticed the shine in the mane wasn't from rain or anything like that, but from stars that seemed to glow in her hair. Luna's eyes widened as she looked upon the cloaked pony.

"Will you please take off your cloaks, it's not usually common for guests to wear… disguises." The head advisor was choosing her words carefully. She was one of the youngest in the room and had not been around when there had been four princesses. She was afraid of the dark pony before her princess.

Astra looked once more to Hope who smiled kindly at her. "Spike, will you hold mine please?" Spike nodded and took off Hope's cloak for her while Astra took off her own. The compass cutie mark on her flank started to glow a little. Hope smiled as the royal court members stiffened. It wasn't easy to startle them and it always gave her pleasure to do that. Spike also smiled as he looked at the snooty ponies and unicorns stare in shock.

Hope's dusty rose fur looked pale compared to the elegant dark purple of Astra. The group bowed before the royal court and the princesses. Hope's smile vanished as she looked around. She wanted to return to her valley and not complicate things any more than they already were, but she had a feeling right down to her tail that she was going to be dragged right into the royal world again.

"Present yourselves to the princesses, please." The head advisor was still concerned about such a dark unicorn that she didn't notice Astra's wings.

Astra looked down sheepishly and then up and was about to open her mouth when Spike started to speak. This was when Hope started looking a little nervous. "Announcing the Princess of the stars, Princess Astra!" Astra blushed as she her wings went out instinctively. Hope felt a pain in her back and glanced quickly towards the bandage that was strapped tightly. She felt a twinge of guilt and sadness, but then remembered that it was for the princesses own good. "The princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle," Twilight bowed her head respectfully as her own wings opened for a second. She hadn't even been aware that there was such a princess before. "Applejack the honest," Applejack nodded her head respectfully after she finished her bow. She wasn't used to being in such a fancy environment for long periods of time. "Rarity, the generous," It seemed that Spike was naming all their elements, save for Twilight's at this point. "Fluttershy, the kind," Fluttershy blushed as she bowed her head, she was always the shyest of them all. "Rainbow Dash, the loyal," Rainbow was tempted to do one of her fancy tricks right now but decided against that. "Pinkie Pie, the Party Pony," was now Pinkie's official title. " and Hope Healer, of Sunrise Valley." Hope breathed out a sigh of relief as Spike hadn't said her real name. Then Spike blushed as he remembered that he had to introduce himself. "Oh, and I'm Spike Hope Healer, Princess Twilight Sparkle's assistant." He noticed Hope's smile show once more as he had addressed himself as her son.

"Spike… Hope Healer?" The adviser looked from the baby dragon to the unicorn.

"Umm, yeah, see, it's been my mom's name for the last few hundred years and well…" Spike blushed. He wasn't used to seeing the whole royal court staring at him, just the princesses. The princesses had never been quite so intimidating, but the fact that he had just introduced a long lost princess seemed to tense up the whole room.

Before the head advisor could ask another question, Princess Celestia walked towards the group Luna followed nervously. The two stopped in front of them while Spike merely stood behind Hope. Celestia then dismissed the royal court, but allowed the oldest of the royal guards who had been there when there were in fact four sisters as the princesses to stay. Celestia and Astrana held what seemed to be a glare for a few minutes until they both started crying at the same time while laughing.

"Astra, you're alright!" Celestia cried as she and her twin nuzzled each other. "You're alive, oh bright shining sun, you're alive! And you're back to normal too, oh Astra! My sister…"

"Yes, oh it's so good to see you again, Celestia. I missed you so much." She then looked upon her younger sister with tears in her eyes, "Oh, and Luna, dear, you've grown so much, oh bless my stars!"

Luna smiled tearfully as she looked upon her older sisters. "Astra." She trotted towards her sister carefully and then rushed right towards her, nuzzling her sister, hoping it wasn't all a dream. "Oh shining silver moon, I hope this isn't just a dream."

Spike took in Twilight's confused face at the sight of this and laughed.


	6. Chapter 6: Healing Light

Hope merely smiled as she started towards the door. Spike stayed where he was and looked from the happy sisters to his mother and then to his confused friends. Spike followed his mother out of the palace and towards a tree that grew near the palace in its gardens. "Mom? Are you okay?"

Hope smiled as she looked to the little dragon baby. "I'm fine, Spike. Thank you for helping me reunite the princesses." She looked towards her bandage and noticed it was starting to turn a little towards the red side, same with the one she had used over her cutie mark. "I need to change bandages again, it seems. I just wish I wasn't so close to here… to them… they might find out and…"

"It's okay, mom. I'll just re-bandage you and cast some healing spells that I know. You haven't been looking up new spells, but I have. I'm sure I've got one we can use to help you!" Spike looked up wishfully to the old unicorn.

Hope sighed. She didn't want to disappoint the little dragon. She looked up and noticed the afternoon seemed cloudless, with blue skies and birds singing. The day just seemed to be calling out to her with a healing glow of its own, but she figured that was just from her coming into the proximity of the three princesses. "Alright, Spike… let's see what you can do…"

Spike nodded. He smiled weakly and checked to see if they were in a safe place. No pony would notice them unless they came right up to the tree and looked behind it. He started to gently hum a magical little tune that would put Hope to sleep. Once he was sure she was asleep, he started to undo her bandages. As he undid the ones just above her hooves, he saw them start bleeding intensely like they always did. She had been wounded by something that had managed to cause forever bleeding wounds, or so it seemed. Her best defense against it had been to use magical bandages so that she didn't lose all her blood at once.

Spike looked towards his sleeping mother's face. She was oblivious to pain at the moment because of his sleeping spell. She would only awaken when she was healed properly or he woke her up, that or when the spell wore off in half an hour. Spike sighed in relief as he started to clean the wounds. As he did this, he chanted his own little spell. He had been Twilight Sparkle's assistant for years and his mother's for a time as well, learning what he could from her and his adopted sisters. He knew how to invent spells that could do many things, but he was reluctant to share them until he tested them out, but this was an emergency in his mind.

"Scars from Nightmares, Torn off wings, may hope and magic heal all these things. May griffin talons never touch the wings of light again, may darkness never touch her light even then, so says the son of Hope." Spike said this spell as he unwrapped the bandage around the center of Hope's body. On her back there were stubs that were bleeding. She had once been an alicorn, and a powerful one at that, but she had only flown once before her wings were taken from her in a fight. After a few seconds, the stubs started to glow a bright gold. He smiled a little as a set of wings started to form from a golden light with a pink tinge on the ends. He then uncovered the cutie mark that was covered by a square bandage. The mark started to glow a little too. The whole mark had been scratched by what seemed to have been either a claw or thorns, but it had actually been scratched by the nightmare queen's horn.

The top half of the mark was a sun with a red star in the center just above the center line. There was a white star also just above the sun. On the bottom, half of the sun was what looked like a moon half with a drop of water hanging off the bottom. The scars on it now disappeared as her cutie mark repaired itself. Spike smiled as his mother stopped bleeding for the first time in over a thousand years. He knew she was going to be fine. He sat under the tree and fell asleep with some hope of his own, hope that his mother would be happy being a princess again instead of an outcast.


	7. Chapter 7: The Nightmares

Hope awoke to find herself in a small dark chamber filled with darkness. She sighed as she felt the darkness around her close in. She didn't need to be told where she was, she just knew. She concentrated on her horn's magic and was grateful to find she still had her horn and her powers. A small light shone from her horn, pushing away the darkness. "I suppose you've found out what I've done?" She asked calmly into the darkness.

**"Yes… I have… I must say… I am impressed. Not only have you saved your sister and brought her home, young filly, but you managed to stay alive long enough to do it. Two curses have been placed upon you and you still managed to do all this. You are a powerful young filly…" **A dark female voice whispered, seemingly in her ear, not that it fooled Hope. She just kept looking forward. **"I do believe it is time for you to fail again though, my dear…"**

"You touch my sisters and I will not hesitate this time. I will keep my sisters safe from you." Hope kept a calm voice and a neutral face as she stared forward in the darkness. She had already nearly lost her sisters before, she would not make the same mistake twice.

**"I think I'll take a different approach actually. Your sister's apprentice is quite skilled, and so is her assistant… you keep forgetting that the more you love and care for, the easier it is to break you."** Hope glanced towards her back as she felt something seem to burst from her back. **"Ah, you do have an ally that you seemed to have either forgotten, or simply not recognized. I do believe that he shall be the first to go, after all… I was going to save him for last as a gift for you doing such a good job at surviving both curses…"**

"What are you talking about?" Hope felt something startling that was impossible, she looked back and noticed bright golden wings with a light pink in its center. "What in Equestria?"

**"Yes, your ally shall be gone by the time I allow you to wake up, dragons are such pests anyway…"** As the voice turned into silence, Hope's eyes flared open.

"You keep your hooves off of my son, you witch!" She spread her wings out fully reaching a startling ten feet and blasting a golden light throughout the room.

When she awoke she found herself on the ground by a tree, beaten, bruised, and with the wings from her vision and her bandages removed. She slowly got herself up and looked around. There was damage to the city but it seemed that the ones who had caused it were long gone. She ran around as fast as she could, searching for her son and her sisters. Spike would never stray far from her if he was helping with her bandages, unless he was with the princess Twilight Sparkle. She hoped desperately with all her heart and soul that that was indeed the case.


	8. Chapter 8:Failure

As Hope ran through Canterlot, she had forgotten about her change into an Alicorn. She felt like she had been in a battle, but how come she couldn't remember it? "Spike! Spike, where are you? Astrana? Celestia? Luna? Twilight, where are you all?" She then decided to rush to the palace to see if they were all still there. As she ran, she used her magic to cast healing spells to all she passed. She rushed through the wrecked doors of the palace with a golden fire in her eyes, her wings spread slightly. Her cutie mark was no longer covered by a bandage. Her coat was no longer a dusty pink but instead a pristine pearl like pink, similar to that of Celestia only, if possible, pinker like Pinkie Pie's. Her cutie mark glowed a little for some strange reason. No one ever knew what it meant, but she always had felt it gave others hope.

As she ran through the halls of the palace as though it had only been yesterday that she had once been a young filly running through the palace to play with her sisters and brothers. As she entered the throne room, she noticed that the royal guard and the princesses were bruised and had their horns glowing. As Hope entered the room she was covered with a cloud of darkness for a brief moment and came to a stop in front of a creature that made Astra look gorgeous. "Get away from them!" Hope's shout made everyone in the room notice her as she charged the Nightmare Queen.

The Nightmare just laughed as she flew up out of her way. Hope skidded to a stop just in front of her sisters and Twilight. She noticed Spike wasn't with Twilight. She glared at the true Queen of darkness with a golden light in her eyes. **"Oh, the poor baby looks like she wants to cry, are you going to take a nap now little one? Don't worry about that pet of yours, he'll be fine. After all, it's you I want…"** Hope's golden power leaked out of her eyes. **"Did you know he cried for you when I grabbed him? No, of course not, but I must admit, your energy and fighting strength, even when you were trapped in my nightmare, well it was indeed something to behold. You are quite powerful, young filly. I do believe that if you tried, you could easily overthrow your sisters in their reign and even lead them all, but then again, your fear of power stops you, doesn't it?"** The nightmare princess was barely able to dodge the alicorn that had once been Hope Healer.

Hope was now a bright pink alicorn with wings of pink with golden tips and a shockingly midnight black horn. The only thing that had stayed the same about her was her blue tinted glasses that lay on her snout. She concentrated her horn and aimed a blast at the flying Nightmare.

"Why can't you just leave everyone alone? We didn't do anything to you!" Her voice was no longer shy and soft like Fluttershy, but more of an outburst like Rainbow Dash. 'You already killed one of my brothers…'

**"Because, you have no right to exist anymore! But that will soon be solved once I figure out how your little friend saved your sorry little life!"** The nightmare princess shot an immensely dark blast at the enraged alicorn and then disappeared in a puff of black smoke, leaving the princesses and the royal guards and court in shock and dismay.

Hope collapsed to the ground as the blast hit her. She was once more unconscious. None of the ponies recognized this clean alicorn to be the dirty old unicorn that had been Hope Healer. Luna was the first to react. She quickly rushed to the fallen alicorn's side and tried to wake her up.

It only took a few seconds for her to wake up. The alicorn was no longer Hope in any perspective that the ponies could recognize. She looked around her at the shocked faces and then muttered under her breath, "By the crystals of Sombra… I've failed again!" She then galloped out the doors leaving the group of shocked ponies in her wake.


	9. Chapter 9: Princess in the Dirt

The pink alicorn galloped, completely forgetting her wings were there once more, all the way through Canterlot's city like a mad horse. Her baby dragon was in danger and it was all her fault. Her black horn started casting healing spells all over the place as she ran, she didn't need to think about it or about controlling it, all she needed to do was save Spike. Her poor baby dragon was going through who knew what, all because she was a princess, all because she still lived.

She had barely reached the edge of the city when she looked up to the sound of flapping wings. Above her were Twilight and her older sisters. She concentrated on all the spells that had been used in existence. She could think of none that could get her to Spike faster without endangering her pursuers. "Why… why couldn't I have stayed away? Why did I have to be so useless? Why did I have to be so stupid?" She made it past the confused guards and continued running onwards towards the dark clouds that seemed to be rising in the south.

She would've kept running had something not grabbed her with its magic. "And just where have you been, young filly? You've grown some, but still, you are a troublesome little filly." Hope glared at the strange creature that held her in his magic. It had an eagle's claw, a goat hoof, a snake tail, an antler, and was supposed to be a rare form of dragon to top it all off. His name was Discord.

"Discord, let go of me! That witch has my baby and I need to blast her into the next millennium!" Hope's glare softened a little as she remembered Discord helping her to spread chaos to the enemies when she went out to help with the war.

Discord smirked and placed the alicorn on the ground, but refused to let her run off on her own. "Oh, I'm shaking in my boots." He then showed this by making a pair of boots appear on his feet and shook them violently. The glaring Alicorn was not amused. She turned towards the other alicorns as they landed behind her. "See, I told you, I could stop her easily. She may not have seen me in longer than Nightmare Moon's legends have existed, but she's still aware of who I am." Discord grinned inwardly as the princesses were all shocked at the furious alicorn in front of them. 'The gentlest of them all and yet she's the most chaotic, hahaha, oh my, what a treat.'

While looking back at her sisters, she finally noticed her wings properly for the first time and her flank's new mark, or rather, her original cutie mark. "You have no chance against the Nightmares, any of you… please, just go home… I have to save Spike…" She then ran off again, this time spreading her golden wings to fly, but something stopped her once more. She glared back noticing that it was Astra who was holding her down this time. "Astrana Compassion, release me!" Her voice was similar to that of Nightmare Moon's now. Astrana and the others came up to her and looked at her with shock. "Oh quit staring, you four. I'm not a filly anymore, contrary to Discord's belief. I have to go after that witch, she has Spike!"

Astrana released her just as Twilight's worried gaze came upon the pink alicorn. "She has Spike?" Twilight's voice sounded like a sob was being held back. The pink alicorn looked down as tears fell from her face. "Who are you?" She looked back to Twilight's confused face and realized that with her old looks returned to her by Spike's effort, she was no longer recognizable to the youngest alicorn.

"You know me as Hope Healer, Twilight, but these princesses… and Discord as well… they know me as… they know me as Princess Aurora Hope." It was at this point when her wings, which had been tightly clinging to her back, spread out widely into her full wings. They all backed away from her, save for Discord, as she showed who she had once been.

"Bravo… I must say, returning from the dead is one way to be chaotic that I never really could get right, but you can certainly pull it off, Aurora, and my goodness, a healer for all these years, my, my, however did you manage?" Discord chuckled.

Twilight wasn't paying attention though, her mind was still buzzing, trying to understand why her assistant and best friend had been taken, and why his mother was calling herself a princess. "Why did she take Spike, who was that?"

Aurora, as she would now be known, looked towards the oldest of her sisters. "I take it that you didn't let her look at the oldest of your books? The ones about the Nightmare wars and before then? The ones where it mentions your twin?" Then she looked to Luna, "…or yours for that matter…" Her voice was now softer, but it seemed to sting more. She looked back to Celestia once more. "You should never let the pain of the past keep you from learning to prevent it in the future, you know that… or you should at least." She turned her head towards Twilight as she got up. "You still have a lot to learn, young Twilight, but for now… suffice it to say that she was the Nightmare queen, a Nightmare by the name of Queen Sierra Blackheart, and she took Spike to hurt me, not you." Aurora ran off again, knowing this time that the others wouldn't stop her.

Discord smiled amusingly and decided to follow her. If there was one thing that Aurora knew how to do well in Discord's mind, it was causing chaos that was actually helpful.


	10. Chapter 10: Family Issues

As Aurora got control of her newly formed wings she became aware of her pursuers still following her, but with new intentions now. Discord flew right beside her as though he had full plans to follow her into anything she could think of. With a start, she realized that he did. "I suppose you thought you could save the day without me? Mind you, having a fight with that Nightmare wasn't exactly on my list of to do things, but if that's how you want to spend your first day back, by all means, who am I to stop you?"

Aurora looked at him with confusion in her green and blue eyes as she looked at the dragon of chaos. "You mean, you're going to help me stop Sierra? You're willing to put yourself in danger to help me save Spike?" Aurora's heart was fluttering as she noticed the other ponies following her. Twilight's friends were attempting to follow her, hoping to find out what was happening, while the princesses were gaining speed.

"Of course! I took your advice on the whole 'make a friend here and there' bit and well… I've started to make friends with Fluttershy who happens to be a friend of Spike's. So, as you can see, it's not that I'm willing to…" Discord stopped himself as he looked at Aurora's face. She wasn't buying it. "Ooh, very well, I'm doing it because of the simple facts that I hate those Nightmares, and I've started to care for Fluttershy and her friends, and that includes Spike, happy?" Aurora's gaze softened a little towards the dragon as her sisters and Twilight finally caught up to them.

"I won't be happy till I'm sure Spike is safe and Sierra is no longer a threat to my family." Suddenly a portal opened up on the ground, barely a hundred feet in front of her. "Oh for Equestria's sake, I told them to stay home!" She lowered herself to the ground and landed in front of the portal as two unicorns came out.

One unicorn was slightly smaller than the other. The smaller of the two was a light purple with a light blue mane. Her cutie mark was a heart with a sewing needle and thread attached to it. She had a set of dragon like wings as well to match the colors. The other looked similar to Hope Healer, but without the bandages and glasses, as well as her own cutie mark, a swirl made of black and white. Her wings were similar to angel wings. As Aurora landed in front of them, they were both shocked and embarrassed as she seemed unhappy to see them.

"I told you two to stay in the valley this time, the princesses might not like you because of your species, you know this." Her gaze softened.

"Sorry mom, but we tried to contact Spike and he wasn't answering." The taller of the two said.

The smaller one was a barely a young adult. "I sensed Nightmares this way too! Where's Spike?"

The other princesses caught up finally along with Twilight's friends. "Aurora, who are these ponies?" Celestia looked upon them with worry. She recognized the younger, but could not place a name on her. Astrana could though, but she pushed the thought aside believing it was impossible.

"These are my adopted daughters, Diana Dusk and Stella Nightshade. Girls, these are the royal princesses, Princess Twilight's friends, and Discordias Chaos." Aurora grumbled a little. "Now, unless one of you have any other reasons we should stop, since we're now in this together, I'm going off to save Spike from Sierra."

Stella seemed petrified at the name. "You mean, she kidnapped Spike?" She managed to say in a whispered voice.

Aurora looked at the young pony with sadness. "Yes, I'm afraid I wasn't prepared enough. I thought she wouldn't notice my existence and would leave him alone… as usual, I was wrong…"

Stella and the other ponies, as well as Discord looked at Aurora with sadness. She had meant well and just wanted to return her sisters together.

Celestia was about to say something pathetic about her being too young to have known, but Discord beat her to the punch with a crazed look in his eyes. "That's it! I can't handle this anymore! Aurora, you're so crazy, you make me look sane! None of this was your fault!" Aurora stepped back in shock. Discord was now glaring at the royal sisters. "Don't act so surprised, you're so obvious its painful! Honestly, you had to go into hiding to save Astra and so you feel it's your fault for any trouble the rest of us had to deal with, don't you?" The three other princesses looked at him in shock, not believing what he was saying.

The older sisters looked at Aurora as she glared at the ground. She did honestly feel like it was all her fault. Her brothers' demise, her sister's banishment, Discord's imprisonment, and now her son was dragonnapped by the nightmare queen herself. She felt that if she had just been a little stronger, she could have stopped all of this mess.

Applejack sensed that this was going to take a while so she started a small campfire to keep herself busy while Pinkie Pie and the others who weren't princesses, started to make camp.

"I thought so, well here's a news flash sister, it wasn't!" He nearly barked this last bit. He had been hanging out with Fluttershy and her friends long enough to actually know that if he really cared for someone then he needed to get them to think straight, and with Aurora, sometimes yelling at her would work. "Sombra was possessed by that blasted Nightmare King and I should've been there to save him since I figured it out!" All the ponies looked at him with shock. Celestia and Luna's faces were the most shocked out of them all though. "I got a little upset after that and started using my powers too freely, but when Luna and Celestia came to turn me to stone, I should've warned them that Luna had a trace of Nightmare in her eyes from her fight with Sombra, then she might have been spared from Nightmare Moon's banishment to the moon!" Discord finally sat down in a huff, as though unfairly defeated in a game. "If it was anyone's fault for all this chaos, it's mine. I am the lord of Chaos after all…"

Fluttershy patted him on the shoulder to comfort him. He smiled weakly towards her. He then looked back at Aurora, hoping that his message had gotten through. Aurora lowered her eyes, trying to force herself not to cry.

Discord sighed and decided that he still had something else to get off his chest. "I may not have been able to save Sombra from being possessed by the nightmare king, but I know someone who might have gotten his real soul out of there before Luna and Celestia took him down…" Everyone looked at him once more expectantly. At this point they thought nothing would surprise them.

"Who is it? What do you mean by his 'real soul'?" Twilight was tired of being confused. It seemed that this was the only time she would get any real answers from anyone.

Discord made a grimace. "I can't exactly explain everything, Twilight. I made promises that I intend to keep, but I can try and see if she'll answer me after all these years…" Discord got up and snapped his fingers. A small purple, swirling portal opened up. Discord seemed nervous about calling whoever was supposed to be on the other side of it. He looked back to the ponies, sighed, and called into the portal, "…Screwball?... are you there…?" They had never seen him so nervous before.

"Discord… Who is Screwball?" Celestia asked cautiously as Discord sighed.

"I suppose you might as well learn now, since she was always so scared of you…" Celestia and Luna looked at each other. No one was really ever afraid of Celestia. "Screwball is…"

"Here!" A light purple ball of fuzz attacked Discord with a surprising amount of energy that could rival Pinkie Pie. "Daddy, you're alive! You're back! You're here!" It took a few minutes to realize that it was a little pony with purple and white swirled mane and a light purple coat.

"Oh, Screwball, how I missed you!" Discord was smiling as though he had just been awarded the "Most Chaotic Father of the Millennium Award".

"Daddy?" The other ponies chorused in unison, save for Aurora. While the others were shocked, she just smirked. 'So you did find somepony special, good for you, Discord. I knew you would.'

Discord finally got himself up while still holding onto the little pony who was wearing a silly green hat with a propeller on it. Her cutie mark was a baseball and a screw next to it amazingly enough. "This is my daughter, Screwball. Screwball, these are my… friends…" Screwball scrunched up her face and pointed to Luna and Celestia. "Yes, I guess you could say we're friends now too… I prefer to hang with Fluttershy though. She's that sweet one over there, but you need to be careful, she's not used to as much chaos as you are, got it?" The little pony in his arms just smiled and nodded.

"Hello. I'm Screwball Chaos." Her voice was like that of an innocent child. Her purple swirled eyes seemed too fun filled to bring any fear about her. She then brought out a little red crystal and showed it to everyone, "And this is my uncle's soul crystal. Say 'hello', uncle Sombra!"

The only ponies who didn't back away from the child's glowing crystal was Aurora and her daughters. "Hello, everyone. I hear I'm dead. How is that working out for you?" The crystal seemed to chuckle darkly.


	11. Chapter 11: Spike

Spike couldn't help but cry. He had been taken from his mother while she was asleep. He had seen her get up and fight back, but he knew that her eyes had been glowing pink, which meant she wasn't really awake and that she wasn't using her full powers. He had seen her get beaten while trying to defend him. He called out to her as she fell back against the tree once more. She would not wake easily from that.

Now he was sitting in a steel cage, waiting his fate in the darkest castle he'd ever seen. *Burp* He looked at the scroll that had just come through. He was amazed that the Nightmares allowed him to read the scrolls, or that they allowed him to even receive the messages. He picked it up gently, as though afraid that it would crumble in his claws. He opened it with care and was surprised as he read who it was from.

**_Dear Spike,_**

**_Don't worry, we're coming. I have some volunteers as well, so don't worry about me, I've got more help than I could hope for. I am only a couple of days away from you. I'm sorry I've been slow, but as I said, I've got backup and they take forever. Twilight is quite worried about you and so are your sisters, so stay safe. If Sierra gives you trouble, remind her that I'm already mad enough, and that she will be in bigger trouble than she can handle if I get angry enough to let my powers loose! Oh, by the way, if things start seeming… chaotic… don't worry, it means Discord and his daughter are getting closer. I'm thinking of telling him to give your cage a makeover and turn it into diamonds, you still love those, right?_**

**_Sincerely, your adoptive mother, Aurora Hope Healer, the fourth princess of Equestria_**

Spike couldn't believe his eyes. The fact that his mother had sent him something meant that she was alive, but the more amazing thing was that she had actually taken claim to her title as princess, something that he had thought she had long forgotten. He managed a small smile. The queen of nightmares was going to get it now, his mother was coming, and she was mad.


	12. Chapter 12: The Royal Family

Celestia and Luna stared at the crystal with shock while Discord was laughing like a madman. "Hahaha, oh my, that's rich! I knew you were cold hearted, brother, but I didn't think you had turned as cold as stone, hahaha!" Aurora grimaced. Though she had missed Sombra in a way, she still felt annoyed at his presence, mainly because of how he always made her feel useless.

"Well now I don't feel guilty about you two fighting him, or about the incident at the Crystal Empire." Aurora muttered half-heartedly to her sisters. Astra was just confused, but she had been busy fighting with Stella for control of her body at the time. Thankfully, Aurora had found a solution for that.

"What did you do to my empire?" The red crystal glowed. Apparently the soul in it couldn't see the beings around it.

Aurora looked to each of the ponies who were now looking worried, some were more disgusted though, at the crystal. Aurora rolled her eyes and whispered to Twilight, "What you were fighting was his shadow mixed in with the Nightmare King, Darkheart, and that's who was destroyed. Sombra had been forced out of his body and into a crystal before he was known as the tyrant king. We can free him from the crystal, but I was wondering if you'd be kind enough to help me with that?"

"Why? I mean, if what you're saying is true, are you sure he won't act just like the Nightmare King?" She whispered back with concern.

"Well at least you're asking the right questions… I feel it's my fault he's stuck like this though because I had disappeared and I didn't leave a note of any kind…"

Twilight scrunched up her face in confusion. "What does that have to do with anything? Were you lovers or something?"

"I don't think Celestia would like me to say, as there has obviously been a lack in informing anyone of the relations of the whole royal family." Aurora grimaced.

Celestia looked at her and nodded slowly. "You might as well tell her…"

Aurora rolled her eyes once more. "Our family history isn't as bad as you all like to act. We're just too vulnerable to curses. Frankly, I like Celestia's curse the best." She grinned mischievously. "It's all in her head."

"I wasn't cursed…" Celestia muttered as she turned to look at her youngest sister.

"Yeah, you were, you just don't realize it because no one cast the curse on you." Aurora smirked. She then lit her horn. "Well, I might as well start the extracting spell to release Sombra." She tapped the crystal and was surprised to find that Twilight and the others with magic were helping her. It took only a minute to release Sombra's soul from the crystal.

Sombra's unicorn form was similar to that of a normal unicorn with a grey coat and horn, with a red crystal cutie mark and a black mane. He opened his eyes and seemed to glare at Aurora for a second before calming himself down. His red eyes were now normal looking and no longer seemed to pose danger. He took in a breath of air. "Thank you."

Celestia and Luna looked at him nervously while Discord finally stopped laughing. Hope walked towards the edge of their little campsite and noticed the stars glowing and the moon shining down on her for dramatic lighting.

"You really think this is a ghost story, don't you?" She chuckled as everypony sat down. "Well it's not. I am Aurora Hope, the last daughter of Dark and Light Matter." All the ponies sat around the campfire, along with Discord and his daughter. "Long ago, before the Nightmares and the Changelings arrived here, before the three tribes came to Equestria, there were two powerful Alicorns named Dark Matter and Light Matter. They had created this world supposedly and all its shadows and form. They fell in love and had three sets of twins. The first set was a set of boys, Sombra…" She nodded her head towards the weakened unicorn who looked away slightly annoyed at her. "… and a pony named Discordias." At this Discord blushed and turned his head away slightly. The others were confused, save for the royal sisters. "With order, there is chaos, and vice versa. Though born a normal unicorn like his brother, Discordias always dabbled in chaotic magic. Unfortunately that led to a curse being placed on him by accident by his own brother. Sombra had gotten jealous one day of his twin's magic and the small fact that he had already gotten his cutie mark, and cast a crystal curse on him. The crystal curse enveloped the pony and trapped him inside with his own chaotic magic to sustain him. Sombra hated himself for cursing his brother for the next fifty years until his brother finally emerged as…" She paused a moment and glanced at Discord. He nodded slowly. She took a deep breath and continued. "…as Discord…" Everypony but the royal sisters gasped and looked at Discord and Sombra while the two turned their heads away. Aurora took a deep breath and continued the story. "Eventually Discord managed to control enough of his magic to regain his pony form, though it was still a bit twisted. Two hundred years after they were born, another set of twins were born. This set was a set of princesses named Celestial Light and Astrana Compassion. About twenty years after they were born and they were still fillies, they were playing in the royal gardens. Astrana noticed something though and got in the way of a curse that was about to hit her sister. The result of the curse sits before you, though, when I was born, I thought she looked quite elegant, and honestly, I still think that." She smirked as her sister blushed. "Three hundred years later is when the last of the twins were born. First came Lunar Night, or Princess Luna as you know her, and then came me. I am the youngest by an hour." She took a moment to collect her thoughts once more. "Sombra's curse was what took over his original body and made him the tyrant king of the Crystal Empire." Sombra's eyes widened at this in shock. He hadn't known that. "Discord's curse was that of being forced into his own chaos for too long, leaving him, as you would all call it, a little on the crazy side." Discord blushed a little and noticed Screwball had fallen asleep in his lap. "Luna was cursed by the nightmare controlling Sombra during the battle and became Nightmare Moon. Astra was cursed by the Nightmare Queen herself and found herself sharing a body with the princess of Nightmares." Stella turned her head away at this. "Celestia's curse was to watch as each of us fell under a curse, one by one, so she chose to hide the fact that we were all cursed by trying to make everyone forget about us." Aurora ended her story. Celestia blushed in furry.

"Wait…" Celestia looked at her youngest sister with confusion. "What was your curse?" Aurora chuckled a little at that.

"Let's just say my horn wasn't always black and leave it at that. Besides, there's no evil in me now and the being who shared the curse with me is free to choose her own life." At this, Diana turned her head and turned into a Changeling right in front of the others. "She doesn't hurt ponies and is one of the gentlest of her kind. Never underestimate a changeling though, especially when she has someone to protect." Diana looked back at Aurora's smiling face. She grimaced and then yawned. "Bed, everypony! I want to move out before Celestia moves the sun, and I don't plan on waking you myself." Everypony took it as a sign to get to sleep if they didn't want to be left behind.


	13. Chapter 13: More to an Aurora

Aurora found herself up within a couple of hours and noticed the others were still asleep. She sighed. She had given them fair warning. She started off towards the lands of the Nightmares when she noticed someone was following her. She turned and was surprised to see that Applejack was following her with a pony she barely recognized to be Discord's pony form, with a sleeping Screwball on his back. He wasn't going to leave her behind again.

Aurora smirked. "Well at least someone understood what I meant." Discord chuckled while Applejack just grimaced. She hated the idea of leaving her friends behind on this, but she knew they were tired, and she felt like this was going to be more dangerous than anything they had ever faced before. "I trust you left a note for your friends, Applejack?"

"I did, indeed, your highness."

Aurora grimaced. "You don't have to call me that. I gave up that title the day I went up against Sombra's order for me to remain in the castle and out of the Nightmare War. Just call me 'Hope'." Aurora continued walking on as the night remained. "I'm glad you can still change your form, Discordias. I was worried you had given up that chaotic talent." She chuckled.

"Are you kidding? That's one of my signature acts! Well… not so much anymore, but still, you get the idea." Discord smirked. He felt less chaotic, but in a good way, around Aurora.

"If ya don't mind me askin… Hope… why don't ya wait for the others? I'm sure that we'd have a better chance of rescuin' Spike with their help." Applejack had been with her friends through thick and thin and it felt strange to just leave them asleep.

"Possibly, but I think they might also get hurt. I don't want my sisters getting hurt, nor anypony else, which is why I left so early. I'm a little surprised you two woke up in time to catch me. It does make me feel a little more confident though." She smiled softly. "So, thank you."

"Well shoot, I always wake up early. It's tough work livin' on a farm, but well worth the rewards. We try to get up before the rooster crows, ya know?" Applejack smiled.

"And I wasn't going to let you go and disappear on us again without at least trying to get you back safely this time." Discord muttered, but the girls heard him and giggled. Applejack couldn't help but think, 'Fluttershy was right, he is a big sweetheart.'

The sun rose slightly as they finally reached their destination. A dark castle made of brimstone. 'Hang on Spike, I'm coming.' Aurora walked in without delay, knowing full well that she was expected.

As the four entered the throne room, Screwball had awakened by now, a dark shadow looked over them from the throne. "**Welcome to my humble abode, and my, you've brought some company, how quaint."** The shadow laughed as it gained form. It looked similar to Astrana when it was done, but it had Stella's mane color. "**I must thank you for coming, Princess Aurora Hope, as you've saved me the trouble of going all the way back to Equestria."**

"Where is Spike?" Aurora's voice was as cold as steel. Discord slowly backed away from her as he transformed into his usual form. Applejack looked at him questioningly.

The Nightmare queen smiled wickedly. It sent chills up Applejack's spine as well as Screwball's. Screwball tried to hide behind her father, for she was now awake. "**Why, he's right here…"**She pointed her horn and a small cage appeared with an unconscious Spike in it. Applejack gasped while Aurora's glare hardened on the queen of Nightmares. "**Unharmed, just as you hoped, he's just a little tired though, the poor thing. Nightmares are so harsh on a child's sleep, hahaha."** She held the cage up with her magic, threateningly, as though she was going to drop him.

"Release him, Sierra. You're fight is with me." Aurora sounded calm, but Discord noticed the twitch in her tail, and it wasn't going to mean anything that Pinkie's did.

"**And yet, you brought an entourage?"**

"They're here to bring Spike back. I'm the only one you're going to be allowed to fight." She felt the others' stares on her as she spoke. Though she had not been in the royal court for centuries, she still possessed the same regal aura that had led the healers into training themselves as warriors all those centuries ago.

The nightmare smiled with a grin full of sharp teeth. She tilted her horn towards the farm pony and Spike's cage followed. "**Leave here while you can, young ones. I have who I want. It's quite funny really, your armies throughout all your wars held on for so long all because of this one princess and you didn't even know she existed…"** She pointed a hoof to Aurora who's neutral gaze gave away nothing. "**She doesn't even see her own reason for existing now, save as a caretaker to the foolish, the weak, and the broken! The great princess of hope itself, and all anyone ever thought of her was the weak, young, baby sister, even your twin thought as much of you!"** Sierra kept gloating while Aurora rolled her eyes. 'Why do they always feel that they need to monologue?'

Aurora decided to make a move at this point. She ran forward and heard something flying towards her. This time she was ready, this time she wasn't going to lose her wings. She ducked down and slid under a shocked griffon with his talons reaching right where her wings had been a second before. "Aurora!" Discord gasped with worry. He hadn't sensed the griffon there and would have moved too slow to save her.

Aurora's eyes remained emotionless as she flipped herself onto the griffon's back. "Hope!" Aurora caught a rope in her mouth from Applejack and tied the griffon's wings down against his body as well as hog tied the rest of him. She even tied up his beak.

Aurora glared at the griffon for a second. "You're so lucky that I don't take your wings like you took mine." She then glared up at Sierra. "Don't think I've forgotten about you. I'm removing you from your throne, Queen Sierra."

"**And I suppose that weakling, Stella, is going to take my throne once you're done? What a laugh, hahaha."** The nightmares howled in their queen's laughter

"She's your daughter, fool! How could you treat her like that? Your own daughter!" Aurora shouted above the Nightmare's howls. They suddenly shut up, processing what she had said. "You have abandoned your own family and expect others to clean up your messes! You think destroying me will remove the hope of Equestria and its creatures?" Aurora was starting to lose her self-control. Her eyes widened as she realized what was happening. She looked back to Applejack and Discord. Spike was still unconscious on Applejack's back while Screwball was now clinging to her father. Aurora managed to whisper one thing back to them. "Run!"


	14. Chapter 14: Hidden Hopes

Applejack and Discord took off faster than they had ever thought possible. Aurora had started glowing as she began to lose control of her powers. It was something that none of them had seen before, and Discord had seen many strange things.

The two of them were shocked to find the others were just outside the gates, all glaring at them, at least until Twilight saw Spike. "Spike? Spike! Oh my gosh, you found him! What's wrong with him?" Twilight gently lifted him onto her own back with her magic to give Applejack a break.

"Nothing a little rest won't cure, but the princess… she…" Applejack just didn't know how to describe what she had just seen. Once minute, Aurora seemed calm, and the next, she seemed like she was losing control of all her powers at once.

"Where's my sister?" Sombra asked. He now seemed better, but he still had a dark aspect to him, but it was no longer evil.

Discord's eyes were wide with worry and fright. "Oh shoot! I thought she was right behind us when she told us to run! She must be losing control of her powers!"

"What!" The whole group chorused. It was at this time that Spike woke up, but had chosen to keep silent about it. Mentally he was freaking out about it just as much as the others. Spike started off back towards the castle.

"What powers could she be losing control of? Discord, she's a young filly! She doesn't have as strong of powers as the rest of us!" Sombra practically growled.

Discord glared at his brother. "She has more power than you ever gave her credit for." Discord then put Screwball down and ran back into the castle, which now had a beam of golden energy rising from the center of it.

Inside the castle, Aurora's green and blue eyes were now filled with gold and her usually black horn was now pink and glowing. Her wings were outstretched and seemed to be on fire with the colors of an Aurora while her horn seemed to radiate the colors of the sunrise. "**_You wish to kill the world's hope, but even in my defeat, there are others who carry on hoping! I was not the first to hope, nor will I be the last. I am merely able to use it to my advantage… I am not hopeless, I am Hope!"_** The Nightmare queen was backing herself into her throne as much as she could, obviously not prepared for this. She had been prepared to face the young filly who had fled all those years ago, only slightly stronger. She had not been prepared to face the wrath of the embodiment of Hope who had forced herself to hide her powers.

Spike entered the room at running speed. He was shocked by what he found in the room. The whole room was surging with Hope's positive energy, which was exceedingly dangerous to the alicorn who wielded it, as she found herself slowly losing control.

Spike glared at the nightmare queen as she shrunk back, trying to turn invisible in the last scraps of darkness in the room. "This is your fault!" Spike yelled to her as he tried to think. He had to figure out some way to get Hope back in control of herself.

Discord entered just behind him. "Holy Equestria! What's wrong with Aurora?" He hadn't yet noticed the purple dragon in front of him.

Spike looked up to his adopted uncle and stated, "Oh, she's just losing her temper and control." Spike's mind was still stumbling through all he knew from over the years to see if anything could help his mother. Unfortunately, he could only think of one thing. "Discord, I'm gonna need your help…"

Discord looked at the dragon with confusion. Hadn't he been unconscious just a few minutes ago? "Alright, what's the plan?"

"You use your chaotic powers to place all the Nightmares in jars or something so they don't interfere, along with the queen." Spike started moving his hands around as though trying to gather the energy in his claws. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"Well that's just great, but what are you going to do while I take on the Nightmares?" He started to place them in cages with his magic. He kept glancing towards his sister.

"Hah, you think you got it tough? I got the harder assignment..." He chuckled as he opened his eyes. They were now glowing gold and the essence of Hope seemed to surround him as though it was energizing him. "… I got Hope."


	15. Chapter 15: A Dragon of Hope

Spike jumped onto Hope's back as she sensed him and Discord. "Spike, go, please, you'll get hurt!" She managed as she felt his familiar scales on her back.

"You're not alone this time. I can help, please, mom… Aurora... Let me help." Spike practically begged. He never called her by her first name before. Aurora's mane was now a part of the Aurora that flew above her.

She managed to nod slightly. She had always wanted help, and here was someone genuinely offering to help her, and was fully aware of what was going on, at least, she hoped he was. "Please…"

Spike nodded back and started chanting another spell as the other ponies rushed into the castle. They gasped in surprise as they saw Aurora's raw power losing control. The Nightmare Queen had finally gotten her courage back and started attacking. Discord found that he could not trap her like the others for some reason. The nightmares he could not trap had started to surround himself as well as the ponies.

"**Powers of hope, bring in control, age is meaningless to one who lives long. I am the medium, control to my will, please."** Though the spell did not have an action that the ponies knew or any rhymes, Discord was surprised to find his nephew knew such an old and ancient spell. All but the alicorns glowed slightly, leaving the sisters and Twilight slightly confused. While they were all distracted, Aurora had managed to get enough control to dodge Sierra's blast.

Sierra was now facing her off while Spike was on Aurora's back. Spike was still glowing a little with power, as his mother's glow was more dominant, and cast another spell, this time on himself. "**May age of maturity come forth in my size! May just for a moment, I be wise!"** Spike jumped off of Aurora as he started to grow a little. He was now the size of a teenage dragon, and glaring coldly at the nightmares who were still attacking. There were too many for Discord to stop them all, even with his magic of chaos.

Spike started to slash at the nightmares, clearing a path to his friends, who were fighting their way to the princess of hope. He was especially enraged when five nightmares had pinned Twilight down. He had often considered Twilight his second mother, since after Hope, she had raised him, though he would never say this to her. He roared at the five nightmares, causing them to back off in fear as he helped his oldest friend stand.

"Spike? Spike, what happened to you?" Twilight looked up at him fearfully. She remembered the last time he had grown, and he had nearly torn apart Ponyville.

"I'll explain later, Twilight. At the moment, we have to get you all out of here." His voice was now more mature, and a little gruff. He sounded much more like an adult than a teen. "Aurora can't keep Sierra occupied forever." Spike then noticed Screwball and Discord having trouble and Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack were surrounded by nightmares as well. He groaned inwardly as he thought about the best thing to do. "Twilight, go help Rarity and the others. I've got to help Discord and that filly!" He ran quickly towards the two, who were barely able to use their chaos powers against the nightmares without being bombarded with fear.

Fear was a nightmare's strongest power, all save for Stella's, which was now entering dreams and nightmares. Spike found himself soon up to his scales in Nightmares with Discord and Screwball by his side.

Aurora, now more in control of her powers, thanks to Spike, kept up her attack with Sierra. She found herself bouncing around the chamber, trying to stay alive, while making sure that the others had the help they needed.

Sierra's eyes glared as she noticed this and she smiled maliciously as she hatched a plan. "**_You wish to be a hero this time around? Fine… let's see you keep them safe…"_** Sierra aimed a blast of dark nightmarish magic towards all of the ponies.

Aurora's eyes glowed golden again as she cast a powerful shield upon the others. Spike knew instantly what she had cast, as did Discord and his siblings, she had cast a powerful dream shield. The problem with dream shields though is that it causes physical strain, as well as mental, to the wielder of the shield. "I don't think you heard me, Sierra. You're fighting me, not my **_family!_**" She ran right up to the nightmare queen unicorn and knocked her back.

The queen quickly got up laughed at Aurora's attempt to protect her friends and family. "**_You think that's going to stop me? Fine, then I'll take you down first."_** With that, Sierra blasted a strong dark energy at the youngest of the royal sisters.

Aurora was facing it with her shield actively guarding her family and friends, keeping them in a shield that neither they, nor the nightmares could cross. She still had spare magic in her horn that she used to defend herself, but it was quickly running low as the two faced off, horn to horn. "I'm not afraid of you, Sierra. You are a disgrace to your kind!"

Discord took one look at the fight and realized what was going on. Aurora made one last slash towards Sierra and a bright light enveloped her and the Nightmare Queen. "Aurora, NO!"

Everyone turned their heads towards the two fighting in the center of the throne room. Luna tried to break her sister's force field but was surprised to find it too strong. Normally, one who used such a shield would only be able to hold it up for a few minutes, but Aurora was able to hold it up. "Not again, please no…" Luna whispered as she saw the light envelope her sister. The light then enveloped the whole room.


	16. Chapter 16: Hope's Healers

When Luna opened her eyes, she found herself sitting in a bed of hay in a strange building that she didn't recognize. She turned her head and found that there were other beds filled with patients surrounding her, the majority of which were the ponies that had been with her in the Nightmare castle. She looked around in fear until she caught sight of a stallion wearing a small white hat with a red medical cross on it. He was a tall earth pony, with a dark black coat, and a dark blue mane. His eyes were silver, and his face was full of kindness.

"Oh, good, you're awake. Forgive me for not giving you the correct respect, your highness, but I have more important matters to attend to. Don't worry about your friends though, they'll wake up eventually. I'll let Hope know that you're up. She's been quite worried about you all. You've all been out for two weeks." The stallion smiled.

"Who are you? Where are we? Who's Hope?" The questions stumbled out of her like a babbling brook. Luna glanced over to the bed next to her and saw her sister, Celestia, unconscious still and with a bruise on her back. She then looked at herself and also found a few bruises on her. Discord and his filly, Screwball though were nowhere to be found, nor was Twilight, Aurora, Astra, and Spike.

The stallion smirked. "Do not worry, princess of the moon. The sun princess will be fine. The star princess is in a more critical room though, but that was against Hope's judgment. She says we must wait for her to awaken and give her a choice before we attempt to get rid of the rest of her curse." The stallion smiled at her as he started to mix a small concoction of herbs in a small bowl. "As for who I am, I am called Eclipse. I don't believe my name is quite… appropriate, since my father didn't know of your existence… anyway, I was asked to check up on you all. I'm afraid Hope is tending to some… issues… of her own… I do hope you understand."

"I don't… who is this 'Hope' you speak of? What happened to us?" She glared at the stallion, not trusting the peaceful surroundings.

The stallion looked down and sighed. Then he approached her with the now green mush that he had concocted. "Take a deep breath. This is going to sting a little. I'll explain it as best as I can, your highness." He started to apply the mush to her bruises and he was right they did hurt. She winced. She then noticed his cutie mark. It was a small moon that seemed to block a part of the sun, and yet at the same time, they seemed to be balanced. Eclipse noticed her gaze. "My full name is Lunar Eclipse." He explained calmly.

"Oh?" Then she realized why he would be a little embarrassed about his name. She had to admit, he looked the part. 'Not to mention, cute… where did that thought come from? My family had been reunited for the first time in centuries only to be hurt again and I don't even know what happened! I don't have time to think about cute stallions!' Then her eyes widened as she realized the real urgency in her heart. "Oh no, Equestria! The sun and moon can't be moved without an alicorn's magic, and even then they have to be powerful! Oh no, the ponies of Equestria must be worried sick!"

Eclipse just laughed softly. "Not to worry. Hope managed to stay conscious and has kept them moving, though it is nearing night time. She'd probably be grateful if you moved the moon yourself, but at the same time worried if you hurt yourself too early." His smile seemed to charm Luna without even trying.

Luna shook off the though and shakily stood up. "Show me where Hope is and I shall offer my assistance. I refuse to let someone else keep the burden of the moon and stars."

The stallion looked at her, as though measuring her up to a set of standards. He nodded once and led her past her unconscious family and their friends. As they walked, Luna realized that she was in a hospital of sorts. There were nurse ponies all over the place. Some had fillies in carts to be brought to the nursery and others were pushing medical carts with injured ponies that were ready for surgery.

Lunar Eclipse led her to a room that had a strange symbol on it. Looking at it closely, Luna realized it was her twin sister's cutie mark, only magnified. The red star that had always shown in the sun half was now clearer and looked like a medical cross. Luna gasped in realization. "That's why she was always so good with helping others!" She whispered.

Lunar smirked and nodded. He then tapped on the door with one hoof and called in, "Commander Hope, the moon princess has awakened. She wishes to take back her job."

"Come in, Lunar and Luna. There is no need for titles here, you know that, Lunar." The voice was soft like the moonlight, but seemed warm like the sunrise in summer.

Lunar opened the door gently and bowed as he allowed the princess in first. Luna's eyes widened with surprise as she walked in on a pony who looked like she had just been in a war all by herself and had barely survived. The pony had blood crusted wounds, bruises that were far more severe than hers, and bandages on her wings. Aurora just smiled at her sister.

"Hello, Luna. I trust you're feeling better? I must say, I can understand why only alicorns can raise the sun and moon. It's quite heavy. Do you mind raising the moon for me? I'll lower the sun." Luna could only nod dumbly as her sister's horn started to glow.

Luna looked out the window and was surprised to find that the sun was indeed lowering, though she had seen her older sister still unconscious in the other room. When the sun was gone, she looked to Aurora who was seemed so tired, yet she kept smiling. Aurora nodded to the window to indicate it was her turn. Luna nodded back. She concentrated on using her powers to raise the moon and to make the stars shine. When she was done, she looked back at her twin.

Aurora sighed in relief and turned to a closed off area. She started using her horn on something that was behind the curtain. "Aurora, what happened? What's behind there?" Luna asked cautiously. She had yet to see Princess Twilight or young Spike, who she now remembered was larger. She was also worried for Discord and his filly Screwball, now that she thought about it.

Aurora took a quick look behind the curtain and then sighed with a small smile. She looked back at her twin sister. "Luna, if you must know, I blasted Sierra with something most nightmares can't tolerate, but in doing so, I'm afraid that I accidently dropped my shielding for a few minutes. In those few minutes, you were all knocked unconscious while Spike, Discord, Twilight, Stella, and I were still awake. Stella helped me to take down Sierra while the others protected you all as best as they could. I wasn't strong enough… Stella had given the final blow and all I could do was jump in front of Spike so he wouldn't get hurt from Sierra's final blast… I crashed into him when I was hit, but it's better than how he would've ended up…" She turned her gaze down and tried to hide her tears. She hated that she was the weakest of them all. "Anyway, everyone should be fine now. They're just tired, save for Discord, Spike, and Twilight. Stella is still in the castle of the nightmares. She defeated her mother, Sierra, so she's now the queen. It makes sense if you think about it."

"Aurora, when was the last time you took a rest?" Luna stared at her twin with concern. Her usually golden colored mane was still flowing like Celestia's with the colors of an Aurora ignited in it. "You look like a wreck, even though your mane is still glowing like an Aurora…"

"I'm fine. Do you mind helping me a little more? I need you to keep watch on Discord. He's a little banged up, and the ponies are all still a little unsure of how to deal with his form. I suppose I could force him into a pony form, but I'm afraid that it would hurt him more." She pulled back the curtain slightly with her magic to reveal the dragon of chaos curled up into a ball with his daughter sleeping next to him peacefully. "Screwball stayed up late helping me to take care of him, and well…" Aurora smiled softly. "She wore herself out trying to help. He'll be fine though. He's a big boy now, after all."

Luna looked from her twin to her brother and sighed in relief. Aurora was always able to pinpoint what others needed. "Alright, Aurora, I'll watch them. Where will you go, though?"

Aurora chuckled lightly. "Why my dear Luna, I'm Hope Healer from the moment I called for the healers' help. I have to do my part. I'm going to check on Twilight and Spike. Twilight's been hovering over him since she woke up the other day. I like to think she's more of his mother than I am."

"Yet you love him all the same…"

"Of course, just like a real mother, anyone who has been under my care has had my full care and attention, even when there is more than just one to care for." Aurora started for the door. "Lunar, will you be kind enough to get some breakfast spread around for those who are awake? Discord and Screwball drink chocolate milk, or at least the glass from it, and they love sweets as much as Pinkie Pie if not more, so please, do take that in mind."

Lunar bowed slightly to the princess of hope. "Of course, Hope. I'll have it around within the hour."

"Good, oh and do me a favor and see if you can get the cooks to make a small gem muffin with chocolate for Spike. They've been complaining about never getting to try out any gem recipes because all the dragons they know don't tell them how it was." Hope smirked as she left the room.

Lunar just smiled then looked back at Luna who was quite surprised, and scared. She had just seen her sister act like she had been in charge of ponies as long as Celestia had. "I'll be sure some food is sent in here for you as well, your highness."

Luna snapped out of her stunned look and was now just confused. "Why do you call her Hope? Why not by her title as a princess?"

Lunar blinked in surprise. "I was not aware that she was a princess, but I suppose that that makes sense in a way. She's never acted like one though… besides, she thinks titles are too formal, especially for a healer like her. She prefers to know everyone and for everyone to know her as Hope if at all. She is Hope Healer after all."

Luna thought about this and made a decision. If her twin saw these ponies fit to call her by her "common" name, then why should she be treated any better? "If… if you are going to continue calling her Hope, than can you do me the favor of calling me by my name as well? I refuse to be treated any better than my sister."

Lunar looked at her with amusement. "Very well, Luna. But I am surprised that you would admit Hope Healer to be your sister. She's quite… different. Though now that I know she has wings, I guess I'm not all that surprised."

"She's my twin sister. Her real name is Aurora Hope."

"Oh, so that's why you were calling her that. I was curious about that. What happened to her mane by the way? It's usually just yellow with some dirt in it when she comes by." Lunar smiled.

Luna grimaced. "From what Discord and Applejack said… I guess she lost her temper. I've never seen it like that before either to be honest. She's been… missing for the last 1400 years."

Lunar nodded in understanding. "Well that clears up a few questions. Thank you. I'll bring you some food soon enough, Luna. Just ask if you need anything. Hope may not like special treatment, but any pony in here would gladly do anything for her."

"Why though? None of you knew her as a princess."

Lunar smiled at this. "For that answer, you'd have to ask everypony here. We all have our own answer for that." He left the room, leaving the princess of the moon very confused.


End file.
